Some wildlife photos from around San Francisco, featuring various birds and the famous Pier 39 sea lions.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
California Trip, 2014: San Francisco Wildlife
Category: United States
Ausable Chasm – April, 2024
During my stay in Lake Champlain for the solar eclipse, I visited a nearby park called Ausable Chasm, which reminded me a bit of Watkins Glen State Park. While not as pretty as Watkins Glen, Ausable still has plenty of beauty with some good hiking and a much stronger river running through it (though that may have something to do with the fact that I visited in Ausable in April and Watkins Glen in September). It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area.
Solar Eclipse 2024
After my first experience viewing a solar eclipse in Oregon back in 2017, I was hooked, and knew I had to see the next one. Unlike in 2017, I didn’t have to travel very far to see this year’s eclipse as it was going right through Upstate New York. I booked a cottage on Lake Champlain about a year in advance (lodging was already filling up fast) right in the path of totality so that I would not have to drive on the day of the event (traffic for the last eclipse had been a nightmare).
Here are a few photos from the eclipse. The first two are closeups of the total eclipse. The third photo is a wider shot showing the dark sky at totality (though to the naked eye the sky was darker with more stars visible than what was captured by this photo). The final pic is a shot of Lake Champlain just after totality.
Glacier National Park, 2019: Going to the Sun Road
These photos are from various stops during my drive along Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Famously depicted in the opening sequence of Kubrick’s The Shining, it is one of the most scenic national park roads I have been on. I was able to drive the entire length in both directions on separate days, which is highly recommended if you have the time.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road: St. Mary Lake
Going to the Sun Road: St. Mary Lake
Going to the Sun Road: St. Mary Lake, featuring Wild Goose Island
Going to the Sun Road: St. Mary Lake, featuring Wild Goose Island
Going to the Sun Road
Going to the Sun Road: St. Mary Lake
American Southwest Trip, 2018: Grand Canyon at Sunset
A few shots of the Grand Canyon taken around sunset. The first features the lodge at the North Rim. The rest are from the South Rim.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
North Rim
South Rim
South Rim
South Rim
South Rim
View More North Rim Grand Canyon Photos
View More South Rim Grand Canyon Photos
California Trip, 2014: San Francisco at Night
This collection compiles the photos I shot while walking around San Francisco at night. Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39 feature prominently, along with some photos of various buildings.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Glacier National Park, 2019: Wildlife
Here are some animals I encountered during my hikes in Glacier National Park. I was particularly thrilled that I was able to see a bighorn sheep in the wild on my way back down from Grinnell Glacier.
Click on any photo to open a full-screen gallery.
Ram on the Grinell Glacier Trail
Ram on the Grinell Glacier Trail
Moose walking away from lake, viewed from high up on the Grinell Glacier Trail.
Chipmunk at St. Mary Falls
Chipmunk at St. Mary Falls
Mountain goat high up on a mountain at Two Medicine.
Mountain goat high up on a cliff at Two Medicine.
Marmot on the Highline Trail
Marmot on the Highline Trail
American Southwest Trip, 2018: Panorama and HDR
This is a collection of panorama and HDR photos from Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Zion national parks, as well as Cedar Breaks National Monument. The vast majority of these were not originally shot as panorama or HDR, but were converted from separate photos that I felt looked better merged together. The two that were actually shot as HDR/panorama are captioned as “True Panorama” or “True HDR.”
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Grand Canyon – HDR
Grand Canyon – Panorama
Grand Canyon – Panorama
Cedar Breaks – Panorama
Cedar Breaks – Panorama
Cedar Breaks – Panorama
Zion – Panorama
Zion – HDR
Bryce Canyon – True HDR
Bryce Canyon – Panorama
Bryce Canyon – Panorama
Bryce Canyon – Panorama
Bryce Canyon – True Panorama
Grand Canyon – Panorama
Grand Canyon – Panorama
Grand Canyon – HDR
View More Southern Utah Photos View More Bryce Canyon Photos
View More Zion Photos View More North Rim Grand Canyon Photos
American Southwest Trip, 2018: Cedar Breaks National Monument
Cedar Breaks National Monument was my second stop on the way to Zion from Bryce Canyon (after previously stopping for a brief hike in Red Canyon). The drive involved a pleasant detour along a scenic country road in which I was frequently the only car on the highway. I didn’t have time to do a big hike here but I walked around the rim for a bit. It has a similar feel to Bryce Canyon (in fact, a couple of times while I was sorting photos from the trip I accidentally put Cedar Breaks shots in with the Bryce pics).
Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s a must-see if you’ve been to Bryce, but if you have the time, it’s a nice diversion with beautiful views along the rim at nearly two miles above sea level (so even in warm months you may need a light jacket).
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Nearly two miles high.
California Trip, 2014: Redwoods in Yosemite
On my way out of Yosemite National Park I stopped for a hike through the Mariposa grove of giant sequoias (aka redwoods). They don’t grow as tall as the coastal redwoods, but they grow wider–some are so massive that their branches actually look like trees themselves. It’s impossible for any photo to do these behemoths justice, but the people in some of the shots below, and the fact that many of the large surrounding trees look like sticks next to the redwoods, help to provide a sense of scale.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
I thought this was a redwood pine cone because of how enormous it is, but redwoods apparently have small cones, so I’m not sure what type of tree this belongs to.
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Yosemite National Park – October, 2014
Michael Rappa 